Oceania & Pacific Islands

Oceania is a long-haul commitment that pays back handsomely. Australia is the biggest, easiest, most kid-friendly first-timer country in the region — Sydney's harbour, the Great Barrier Reef, and Uluru inside one three-week trip. New Zealand is Middle Earth made real: hobbit tours for the kids, glaciers and fjords for the grown-ups, and driving distances that stay reasonable. And when the mainland gets too much, Fiji and French Polynesia are half a day away by plane — the kind of over-water-bungalow honeymoon spots that turn out to be shockingly good with kids in tow. Our Oceania guides think in weeks, not days. When to time a trip around Sydney's summer vs New Zealand's ski season, how to avoid the "we flew twenty hours and slept for four days" trap, and which Fijian resorts have kids' clubs so good you actually get to snorkel alone.